Time In Between
by nedlovesyou
Summary: JONAS. A collection of vignettes which explore the unseen moments between Macy Misa and Nick Lucas as their relationship on the show progresses. Currently discontinued!
1. Wrong Song

**This is meant to be taken lightly and I'm trying my best to make it seem as close to the show as possible, keeping it within plotlines of each episode and making sure that the relationship of Nick and Macy in each chapter matches up with their relationship at the point it was at in the given time of the show. Because she was still an obsessive superfan for the first few episodes, she'll be just as fanatic in the first few chapters. But, with each chapter, their relationship will progress and sooner than you think she'll have become the calmed down superfan that we all know and love.**

**This first one takes place at the end of the first episode, and if you recall Macy had a conversation with Stella about how "Nick was standing so close and I had to have a piece of him," and confessed that she was the crazed fan who ripped his sleeve. ;)**

**Also, I'm currently looking for a Beta for this. Anyone interested?**

**Enjoy! **

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Macy Misa had come to learn throughout her two years of attendance at the praised Horace Mantis High School that, excluding the coaches and freshman athletes who (sometimes literally - it's a long story) kissed the ground at her feet, she was never one to be noticed by others. She could expertly walk down the twisting corridors without so much as a second glance from others, putting her graceful athleticism to use while dodging the careless jocks and occasional stragglers that always seemed to just miss bumping into her and sending all of their books flying into a pile on the ground. It's not like she didn't want to stand out, because she did, but camouflaging herself was just a natural ability she'd possessed ever since she was a little girl. The only time she felt she could truly be recognized was when she was on the sports fields - and when she was with Stella, of course. Stella could recognize her anywhere.

Not once in her life did she do so much as make the smallest altercation of her school uniform in order to be noticed, unlike Stella who accessorized her uniform to the point where the original (handbook-acceptable) uniform she once sported was unrecognizable. In turn, Stella received all the stares of love struck teenage boys while Macy was only paid attention to by Stella. Stella, her coaches, and her athletic followers. She long ago accepted that these were the only people who paid any attention to her, and it was for this very reason that it came as a sweeping surprise to her when she felt a tap on her shoulder as she was making a quick stop at her locker between fifth and sixth period.

She knew very well that Stella was on the other side of the building in Trigonometry, having memorized her schedule for the simple fact that she was her only good friend. Though the curiosity was begging her to turn around and see who had acknowledged her, she knew very well that she had to get her books together and head to class or she'd be late for the third time this week, so she continued trading books and binders between her hands and locker as if no one had reached out to her in the first place. Whoever it was would probably give up anyway, she figured, because after all she was - well,_ her_.

"So, you're the one who ripped my sleeve at last night's concert?"

Her entire body went rigid as the words were spoken. She would recognize that voice anywhere as Nick of Jonas. You know, Jonas - that trio of inhumanly handsome brothers who just so happened to be plastered all over her bedroom walls. Yes, the same trio of inhumanly handsome brothers that she'd been obsessing over since - how long had it been now? Two years? Three? Ah yes, the very same.

And a third of the trio was standing right behind her.

Taking the final book that she needed from her locker, she shakily placed it on top of the pile in her arms and closed her locker. Slowly she began to turn around, half expecting for there to be no one and realize that she was only imagining that her celebrity infatuation was standing right behind her - looking at her, talking to her. But when the turn was complete, there he stood expectantly - the _actual _Nick of the _actual _Jonas standing before her with an _actual _smirk resting upon his perfect lips.

And she was frozen, yet again.

"Don't try to deny it, because Stella told me the entire story after you ran off with what was left of Joe's jacket earlier," his smirk grew and she began inwardly scolding herself. _Gulp, move, respond, Misa! Do anything to prove you're not a lifeless vegetable._

"Macy?"

Her name had never sounded more beautiful, she mused. A few more moments of an awkwardly uncomfortable silence lingered between them as she continued mentally trying to get herself to utter any sort of a coherent word and he danced with the idea of just leaving her be and heading to algebra class as he'd originally planned. He'd gone so close as to begin turning on his heel before a small peep of an acknowledgement from her pulled him back to face her.

"Yes," she finally spoke in a high-pitched squeak. Embarrassedly, she cleared her throat before lowering her voice and repeating, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but it seemed like too much of a perfect conversation starter to pass up," he apologized.

"You're sorry!? No, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she apologized frantically. With her words being spoken at a ruthlessly fast pace she continued, "I never should've ripped your sleeve last night! It's just that I'm sort of a really, _really _huge fan of your band - in fact, some say I'm your number one fan and I even have a T-shirt to prove it - and you were just standing so close to me last night that I had to have a piece of you so I just reached out and-"

"Macy!" _Never. Sounded. More. Beautiful._

For a moment she thought she could see the corners of his mouth lift into a small smile, if you could call it that. The subtly of it made it nearly impossible to tell, but she swore to herself that it happened. Then again it could just as easily have been her active imagination, she thought logically as she tried to talk herself out of it. It was ludicrous - Nick of Jonas _never _smiled, let alone for little Macy Misa. It was impossible, simply impossible.

Right?

She looked back up at him and could clearly see that his lips were not curved, and his mouth was resting in a perfectly straight line. There were absolutely no remnants of smile - if anything, it looked like a frown. She was definitely just imagining it.

"You do know that breathing is a necessary part of life, right?" his voice broke her from her thoughts and pulled her back to reality - an unbelievable reality where Nick of Jonas was trying to have a conversation with her. If she didn't know any better she'd think she was dreaming, but she pinched herself in the arm and could very clearly feel the nerves in her arms go insane at the contact.

"Yes, I know that. I took Biology in freshman year," she giggled embarrassedly.

"Right, well, I'm sorry again for interrupting you," he began turning on his heel again to leave, but before she knew what she was doing she was calling out to stop him.

"Oh, Nick of Jonas!" she called with wide eyes.

"Just 'Nick' would suffice," he replied, turning back to face her. For the first time, as his eyes connected with her own widened ones, he noticed the mix of colors they possessed. The dark brown whirlpools were sprinkled with grains of a light green color that seemed to be spinning, dancing as they met with his lighter chocolate ones.

"Do you want your sleeve back so Stella can fix it? I have it right here!" she paused and reopened her locker to reach through the mounds of books and notebooks until she could feel the familiar piece of cloth brush against her shaking fingertips.

"Actually," he reached out a hand to stop her before she pulled it out to offer it to him, "you can keep it."

Macy, with her hand still wrapped around the sleeve in her locker, turned back to him with pure perplexity written clearly over her features. Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked, "But, why?"

"Because every number one fan deserves their own souvenir," he shrugged, "and you _obviously _wanted a souvenir."

The blush spread across her face like wildfire, and she closed her locker again before placing a cold hand on her cheek and looking down in an attempt to hide it. It was too late, though. He noticed.

And, unbeknownst to her, as she was staring at the patterns of the tiled floor in embarrassment, he smiled.

He'd waited until she wasn't looking because he'd always felt that genuine smiles were more personal than most people considered them to be, and that for a person to receive a direct smile from him it had to be earned. A smile from Nick Lucas was not unheard of, it was just inconceivable to most people because when he actually smiled they were never looking. It was like a shooting star or comet - they're up there somewhere in the sky at all the times, constantly blazing beyond the starry horizon, but sometimes people just can't see them because the shiny city lights are blocking their view of it.

Macy knew this very well, knew what it was like to have yourself obscured from the view of others because of shinier things - or people, like Stella. She was just Macy Misa: always there, but never noticed.

Except now.

_He_ had noticed her - noticed her eyes, her blush, and the way she tried to hide it with her hand. But he'd only just met this crazed superfan and didn't want her to know that he'd noticed, so he waited until she wasn't looking and made sure to regain his unmoving composure as soon as he noticed her beginning to pick her head up.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around Macy," he simply nodded in her direction.

And after he'd turned around, after he'd walked ten feet, fifteen feet, twenty feet, after he'd rounded the corner and left her sight, and only after the final bell for class had rung did she finally process what he'd said and responded quietly, "I'll see you around, Nick."

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**So, thoughts? Even just a, "Great!" or "Looks good!" would help me out. Feel free to make suggestions for future episodes, too. (:**


	2. Groovy Movies

**First of all, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited this already! I was extremely hesitant on posting it because I wasn't sure what the reaction would be, but I'm definitely feeling 293856 times better about this. **

**So now we're on episode two, Groovy Movies! Sadly Macy wasn't in this episode at all so I had pretty much nothing to work off of, but in the beginning of the episode Nick, Kevin, and Joe decide to go to the school store and in the next scene - viola! They're back at the firehouse. Naturally, my Nick/Macy brain asks: what could've happened at the school store and, more importantly, could Macy have been there just openly available for a conversation with Nick? ;)**

******And special thanks to my wonderful Beta, Ally117!**

**Enjoy!**

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Nick had never really been good at remembering dates, a perfect example of this being when the fact that his mother's birthday had arrived only crossed his mind when eleven hours of the day itself had already passed. It didn't come as much of a surprise to him, because he was well aware of this flaw. But just because he was aware didn't mean he was accepting; it only meant that he'd taken note of it. And although forgetting yet another date had given him perfect opportunity to fix it, getting a gift for his forgotten mother had taken the place of top priority.

Macy had always been terrible at remembering just about everything - except dates, surprisingly. She had this uncommon ability to just rattle off dates ranging from the Revolutionary War era to her first ever hit in a baseball game. Sadly, this ability did absolutely nothing to help with her forgetfulness in all other aspects of life, and she was still faced with the seemingly impossible challenge of making it to the school store (which just so happened to be on the absolute _other _side of the building from her next class) and back to Chemistry with a newly bought pencil to take a test with. She supposed she couldn't really complain, because it was her fault and it wasn't like she needed to buy a million other things. All she needed was a pencil for her Chemistry test next period.

A pencil.

It was too bad for her that as she was walking to the counter to pay for her plain, orange number two pencil that her eyes caught on a particularly shiny collection of glittered ones. She didn't even think twice before tossing her almost-purchase of bland orange over her shoulder and start tracing her fingers over the sparkling, patterned ones. And of course, she couldn't get just one - because the lavender one was lovely, but then again the cherry one was too.

She couldn't help it, because she'd always been attracted to color.

Meanwhile, as his number one fan was browsing through the shimmering pencil rack, Nick was leading his brothers toward the entrance of the school store with one mundane thought of a dull black and white color running through his mind: get Mom a birthday present. Surely he had no idea that Macy would already be there, just as Macy had no idea that when she made her first trip to the school store that her celebrity infatuations/obsessions/crushes would show up a mere two minutes later.

Nick noticed her first but his steps never faltered, despite the fact that the bruise she'd given him from a clumsy swing of her baseball bat earlier that day had become a bit more painful at the sight. The image of her through the plate glass door as she stood in front of the sparkling display, a small twinkle in her eye being visible to his spot from what must have been twenty feet away ridding any unhesitant thought he may have had.

His brothers, though? They were a different story.

"I refuse to take one step further," Joe had abruptly stopped walking once he saw her, too.

"I second that," Kevin stood next to his brother.

"Relax guys, she's only given us like three bruises," Nick coaxed them.

"Each," Joe deadpanned.

"I've counted at least six on myself," Kevin added with a nervous gulp, "and those were only the ones I could see!"

"Do you two want to be the ones to tell Mom we didn't get her anything?" Nick asked, his eyes narrowing as he reached for the handle of the door.

"She'd understand!" Kevin retorted.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd totally accept the, 'Sorry Mommy, there was a big bad number one fan in the store so we couldn't buy you a gift!' excuse," Nick replied sarcastically as he took his first step inside. Joe, seeing Nick's point but still not supportive of it, followed in back of him after a moment's hesitation while Kevin strayed behind.

"I still think she'd understand!" he shouted before catching up to them.

Once inside, two thirds of the brothers took careful steps in order to avoid collision with her, but Nick kept his focus on trying to find a present. Besides, he'd understood upon meeting her that she only meant well and she certainly had no intentions of causing them such bodily harm. Stella had once told him of her grace as an athlete, and he couldn't help but believe it when (only on occasion) he would notice her walking down the halls with a bat thrown expertly over her shoulder as she juggled her books and softball in one hand and her glove in the other.

_(He noticed her.)_

The only problem was that the second she was within even a ten foot radius of one or all of the brothers, her athleticism seemed to disappear completely and was instead replaced with a clumsiness that made her constantly fumble with her (heavy) sports equipment and somehow send it colliding (roughly) with the forehead or chest of the given Jonas that had caused the whole clumsiness issue to arise in the first place. Still, Nick wasn't really afraid because he'd always had some unexplained ability in dodging things (like her unexplained ability with dates) and he still prided himself on always being picked first for dodge ball in third grade gym class (like her with the Revolutionary War of 1775 and baseball games of 1996).

And somehow he just knew that underneath all of the fumbling and blundering, the real, athletic, non-fangirl Macy was there.

"Code red! Code red!" Kevin whisper-shouted to his brothers, who only looked at him in confusion. "Why does everyone always look at me like that?"

"Oh I don't know, Kev, because you whisper-shout things like 'code red!' like you're in stupid Mission Impossible or something!" Joe whisper-shouted back.

"Guys," Nick warned (in his normal voice) to avoid the ridiculous argument he knew was coming.

"I'm sorry! But she's got a tennis racket!" Kevin whisper-shouted in response, and Joe's hand flew instinctively to his cheek.

"My face hurts just thinking about it," he whimpered. "Is it possible to feel a bruise before you get it?"

"Joe," Nick furrowed his eyebrows at the question, "that's ridiculous."

"OW!" Joe screamed out as his sight was met again with the racket she was gripping in her hands.

"You blew our cover!" Kevin shouted.

"No I didn't, but you just did!" Joe yelled. "Now we're going to have to run for it, so I'll count to three and-"

"Run!" Kevin whisper-screamed, cutting off Joe and grabbing his arm to drag him to the exit. "Nick, save yourself!" he shouted to his brother and tried to reach for him too, but Nick simply pulled his arm back to his side and Kevin's grip on him was lost, instantly sending him to near panic as he left his brother behind.

Nick stood, unaffected by the sudden drama - and it really was literal drama because Kevin had begun running in slow motion and making those weird slow motion faces that he'd convinced himself made him look like a 'wicked awesome, and totally kick-butt!' secret agent. He watched his brothers hurl themselves back to the plate glass doors of the exit and run through them. He had to suppress a laugh as Kevin nearly knocked over a crowd of innocent bystanders because he'd been too busy looking over his shoulder at Nick with his hand reached out to him and an expression of fear displayed in his widened eyes. For a moment he mused that Kevin had been kind of right about the slow motion thing - it was, kind of, cool looking.

On the other side of the store, a shell-shocked Macy Misa was frozen at the realization that Jonas had actually been in the same room as her, occupying the same space and breathing the same air. Every thought of making a purchase and going to class had then gone completely out the window at that point - not because she didn't still want to make it back to class on time, because she did, but for the simple fact that her sudden inability to move had compromised her plan.

And now, she was stuck.

After his brothers had disappeared completely, Nick turned back around and began browsing through what the store had to offer for a gift for his mother. He looked through some humoring things on display, seriously considering a spiral 3-subject notebook because it had her favorite flowers (daisies) on the front cover before he realized the idiocy of what he was thinking and came back to his senses.

It wasn't long after that until he'd given up completely on trying to find something on the shelves and, in a final attempt, wandered over to the checkout counter to see if there was anything worth buying on display. He saw a few things that were particularly interesting, but nothing that seemed nearly good enough to get for her. His best option was a corny little keychain that had the initial of her first name on it with a scarlet heart scribbled next to it. A very audible sigh of defeat escaped him that earned a strange look from the Senior working behind the counter, to which he just faced the other way in response.

He began reexamining the room, his eyes scanning every little shelf and display case in his vision until his gaze finally landed on Macy, whose unblinking eyes instantly met with his. She looked down rather quickly as her breath caught in her throat, trying to refocus her sight back on the sparkles of the pencils in front of her that seemed suddenly less colorful compared to the deep brown color held in the eyes of the Jonas standing a mere five feet away from her.

She wondered if he'd left yet, as she figured he would, but she didn't want to look in fear she'd either pass out (again) or miraculously whack him with her tennis racket (again) - both options seeming very unappealing. After a few moments of silence, she'd told herself that he was probably gone by then. Perhaps it was for the better anyway, because she still hadn't recovered from seeing him and his brothers five minutes ago, much less seeing him a few seconds ago, and if she ever wanted to get to class on time then she'd rather do without the distraction (and embarrassment) that came with each encounter she'd had with a Jonas.

But to her dismay, she could feel someone approaching her from the left and soon felt the presence of another person standing mere inches away from her. Her heart began pounding, sending her pulse into an irregularly fast pace while her breathing became ragged and her fingers started to shake. She tried to pretend he wasn't there - facing her, watching her. When that inevitably didn't work (because she'd gotten so use to being able to recognize each Jonas from a mile away) she told herself that he wasn't there for her and he was just trying to look at the pencils to see if any were worth purchasing.

The pencils.

"Hi Macy," she heard him speak, and everything began blurring when he said her name. With several different experiences of fainting in front of a Jonas under her belt, she immediately recognized this as the first sign that she was about to black out and frantically tried to regain her mental composure.

"Hello," she greeted shakily, making sure her eyes remained fixed ahead instead of on the intensity of his eyes.

He waited for her to turn around, but was apparently waiting for nothing because after a minute of stillness she still hadn't faced him. The shaking of her hand as she reached to grab another pencil from the rack was enough for him to figure out why she wouldn't look at him - because she was nervous, as she always was around his brothers and him, and she probably didn't want to faint again. He wondered for a moment why it was that he could pick up such subtle hints that allowed for him to be able to read her so easily, but dismissed it quickly by telling himself that he'd always been good at reading people, not just her.

Definitely not just her.

"Not one for small talk, today?" he jokingly asked in an attempt to ease her nerves.

"I'm sorry," she tried to say, but it came out in an audible whisper that somehow he could still easily hear.

"Don't apologize," he spoke softly, and was a bit surprised to see that she had begun turning toward him. His eyes followed her shoulders as they began revolving and continued up the path of her arm until they landed on the faltering grip of her hand on the tennis racket that had scared his brothers out of the store. He automatically predicted the trajectory of the angle just in time to realize it would collide perfectly with his face if he didn't duck in time and was able to move just before it crashed into him. The racket swung above him, making a breezy _whoosh _as it brushed over his curls, and he picked his head back up once he felt safely out of dodge.

"I am _so _sorry!" her mouth dropped open and her hand flew to cover it.

"Relax, it didn't hit me," he tried to calm her down. "And you apologize a lot," he added thoughtfully.

"I'm sor-"

"Macy."

"Right," she closed her eyes tightly and put a cold hand to her chest to try and stop her racing heart. Her effort only failed though, as she could feel her heart begin to beat even quicker underneath her fingertips, which she thought was just about impossible at that point.

"So, I was wondering if you could help be out with something," he began.

"But you're Nick of Jonas," she stated obviously, but the confusion in his eyes was evident and she further explained, "why would you need my help?"

"I don't know," he shrugged honestly, "and remember, you can just call me Nick."

"Okay," she said shakily, still unsure, "but I'm not sure I'll be of any help. I'll probably just end up giving you a bruise."

"It will heal," he replied without thought, and the beat of her heart started to pound in her chest so loudly that she swore he could probably hear it. The question of why the beating of her heart had never been this erratic around Joe or Kevin flickered across her mind for an instant, but the way his eyes were looking at her expectantly didn't allow her to fully realize that the question had arose and it was gone before she ever could.

"Uh, so," she struggled with her words, "wh-what can I help you w-with?"

"Well, to make a long story short, I somehow forgot that today was my mom's birthday and now I have absolutely nothing to give her. Stella said to check here, but I can't seem to find anything," he explained. "You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions, would you?"

With the fact that she was having a (second) one-on-one conversation with a third of her celebrity infatuation of three years already being nearly enough for her poor brain to process, trying to think of a gift idea for a forty-something year old mother of four (extremely famous - and not to mention incredibly good looking) boys who probably already had everything in the world resting in the corner of her closet seemed impossibly difficult. The only thing she had the ability to do was shrug in response to the question.

"Well," she thought suddenly, "you can give her one of these pencils!"

He looked at the sparkling ruby pencil in her hand as she held it out to offer it to him and let out a chuckle before he had the chance to suppress it. She simply told herself she was imagining it, like the way she'd decided she was imagining his small smile in their first conversation.

"Thanks, but somehow I doubt she'll consider a pencil to be an adequate gift," he politely declined and she returned her hand back to her side, looking down sadly at the pencil in her hand which suddenly seemed so dull. There was a small pang in the bottom of his throat at the image and before he knew it he had asked, "So, what's with those pencils anyway?"

And somehow, just by expressing even the smallest amount of interest, her gaze met back with his.

"I've always thought a girl could never have too many sparkly pencils," she laughed, trying to be convincing because she didn't want to admit that she was only going to use them for some boring old test. He was Nick of Jonas, after all, and she wanted her life to seem as exciting as his. But his eyes narrowed in disbelief and she knew that he didn't buy it, so she truthfully admitted in a quiet voice, "I have a math test next period and I couldn't resist."

He felt the corners of his mouth begin to lift just a little too late, but as he was about to reveal his smile to her the final bell for class had rung and both of their faces dropped instantly.

"Oh no!" she shouted, quickly pulling a five dollar bill out of her pocket and slamming it on the counter for the clerk before grabbing the ruby-sparkled pencil. Quickly, she turned on her heel and Nick just dodged crashing against her racket as she swung around and began running out of the store. "I can't be late again!" she yelled, more to herself than to anyone else.

Inexplicably, instead of going down the opposite hall to get to his classroom, he followed her.

"Hey!" he called out, jogging to catch up with her and slowing his speed once he reached her.

"I can't be late," she repeated. "Ms. Snark told me yesterday that if I'm late to her class one more time she'll call all of my coaches and have me suspended from my teams for two weeks!"

"Do you want me to walk you there?" he offered, sensing how important her sports were to her and feeling it was his fault for putting them at risk. After all, she wouldn't have been late if he hadn't have asked for her help and kept her so long.

"Why would you want to walk with me?" she asked curiously, wanting to stop and find out but knowing that she couldn't if she wanted even if the slightest chance of making it to class before Ms. Snark noticed that she was missing.

"Ms. Snark sometimes seems like a bigger fan of Jonas than even you are," he explained, "and if you show up late to class with a Jonas by your side, then she'll probably be more accepting."

"Oh no, that's okay. You don't have to do that!" she declined guiltily, picking up her pace.

"Are you sure?" he asked, matching his steps with hers.

"I'm sure!" she replied, "but uh, good luck with finding a gift! Bye, Nick of-" she stopped herself before letting the suffix slip out of her mouth, "Nick!"

She broke into a jog as he began to stray behind, waiting until she rounded the corner before he himself turned back around to begin his trek to class. Somewhere along the way, sometime just after he'd passed the school store again, he decided to stop by Ms. Snark's room before he left that day to let her know that Macy wasn't to blame for her tardiness. Although his brothers would probably accuse him of being an enabler by making it possible for her to continued injuring them with her equipment, he knew he'd do it for her anyway.

But it was only because he felt guilty for making her late, he told himself.

_Only _because he felt guilty.

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**I dare you to count how many times I used sparkle, glitter, shine, or some other variations of those. Ha, just kidding; don't really do that.**

**And just as a little side note, I'm sure a lot of you are fond of Kevin/Macy and I just want to put out there that I'm trying to make each character as close as possible to how they were at the given time on the show. In the first episode, Kevin ran away from Macy screaming, "Who are you!?" so anything he may have said in this chapter should be understandable. No flames, please. But other reviews/feedback? Always loved. (:**


	3. Slice Of Life

****

I'm sorry that I made you wait eight days for this, but here it is! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I've decided there's going to be at least one chapter per episode, so sometimes there's not much to work off of but this way you can imagine there was at least some missing Nick/Macy moments if you ever rewatch the episodes. ;)

This one takes place in episode three, Slice of Life. After Nick approaches Stella and Macy to ask Stella for advice, Stella calls an emergency Jonas meeting. Three seconds later they're in a different part of the school, Macy has on a different outfit and she's carrying different equipment. So I can't help but to ask, how did Nick and Macy get there? I guess we'll find out..

By the way, Stella clearly ships Macy and Nick.

Enjoy!

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The aroma he carried was an unusual mix between that of warm apple cider and the bitter frost that hangs in the air before snowfall. Macy began wondering about how it was possible for him to have this contradictory smell, because she knew very well that he wore the scent of Polo Black by Ralph Lauren cologne (she was the president of their fan club, after all, so she could justify her knowing this) but there were no traces of that on his skin. She also noted that his eyes were rather striking up close, more so than they were when she was admiring him from a safe distance. It wasn't until she felt her arm graze against his that she realized how close to him she was actually standing. Her cheeks colored, realizing how uncontrollably she'd jumped to his side when he'd said to Stella, "I'm trying to get close to a girl."

He shot her a look of annoyance, and she could literally feel her heart sink. He'd _never _looked at her like that. On the contrary, out of all the brothers, he was the most calm about her (not so occasional) fangirl moments like this. Somewhere she knew that he didn't intend on hurting her feelings, that he was just exaggerating to get a point across, but the look was painted clearly, directed only at her, and her thoughts ran cold.

"A specific girl," he spat, and she silently took a step back. Stella couldn't suppress a smile, and Macy couldn't help but notice. For a moment she wondered what was going through her head, but ended up shaking it off because the actual Nick Lucas (who'd just snapped at her, by the way) was still standing less than two feet away from her.

Nick continued on to Stella about how he had a crush on some girl that two other 'Mac Daddies' also had their eyes out for. If her limbs weren't frozen, as they usually seemed to be when she was in the vicinity of a member of Jonas, she would've just left because she felt so out of place. Instead, she could only stand still and offered nothing but her presence as they conversed.

"Wait a minute!" Stella exclaimed. "My Stella senses are tingling."

As Stella's face grew a dramatic demeanor, Macy could imagine the bold beat of a drum that, had they been in a movie, would have been played in the background of this sudden theatrical moment. Apparently, Nick experienced the same notion because he'd begun looking around for the source of the sound as if it were real and not just in his head.

"Would these two Mac Daddies happen to be Kevin and Joe?" she asked knowingly.

"Mac dang it, you're good," Nick replied.

"Emergency Jonas meeting in three, two, one!" Stella announced loudly, but when she was finished counting nothing had changed and the three just stood there in an awkward silence.

"You do realize that nothing actually happened right?" Nick whispered to her, breaking the quiet. Stella remained upright and waited for a few more seconds, but still nothing happened and she finally turned around dejectedly.

"I'll get Joe," she mumbled, "and you guys go find Kevin. Meet us back here in five minutes."

Within an instant, she was gone and Macy was left alone with Nick and a difficult predicament at hand. On the one hand, she could just follow him silently and continue feeling out of place until they found Kevin and she could sneak away. The problem with that was that once she was in the presence of more than one Jonas there was definitely no way she could get her legs (which would definitely have turned to Jell-O by then) to carry her away. Also, she wasn't sure if Nick even wanted her there, especially after the way he'd spat at her. The other possibility was to just leave now while she thought she could.

Yeah, the second option sounded good.

"I, uh," she tried to think of a decent excuse, "I have to go to the sports department and get my archery equipment," she announced meekly. She decided it was a good justification, because she had to get her equipment some time that day anyway, so she didn't feel all too bad about leaving. Besides, he probably didn't even want her there anyway, she reminded herself. Turning on her heel, she started toward her destination and away from him.

"Wait," she heard him call from behind her, "I'll go with you."

Her feet froze momentarily in shock, but she somehow managed to get them back into motion after a second. Granted, her strides weren't as long as they were before, but at least she was moving.

Once he reached her side, she looked up at him with curiosity written clearly over her features. He found it sort of funny that no words needed to be said and just by giving him that one look, he knew that in a way she was asking him why he followed her (for a second time, actually - the first being when he started following her to her class after their run in at the school store).

"Well, Stella told both of us to find Kevin," he explained. The curious look on her face had diminished slightly, but it was clear to him that he hadn't done a very good job at justifying himself to her so he added, "I've learned to always listen to Stella. If I don't, things tend to get messy."

"Oh, uh, okay," she obliged quietly. Part of him expected her to laugh her classic I'm-only-laughing-because-my-celebrity-infatuation-just-made-somewhat-of-a-joke giggle, but he was surprised to see that she remained silent and there wasn't even a trace or remnant of a smile on her face. For some reason, it was extremely unnerving to him.

"So uh, you like sports, huh?" he asked in an attempt to strike her interest, gesturing to the clubs she was carrying in a rolling golf bag.

"Y-yes," she replied softly, her eyes remaining ahead.

"What's your favorite?" he offered, making sure to line his voice with a tone of interest. She took a breath and he was sure that he'd gotten through to her, but she'd only exhaled slowly and shrugged.

Finally his curiosity got the better of him and he asked bluntly, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no," she replied quickly, her voice coming out in a squeak. She cursed herself on the inside for stuttering (again) but she really couldn't help it because the actual Nick Lucas was walking less than a mere foot away from her (again). Still, her body remained straight as she walked, her eyes fixed forward. She was convinced that if she did this for as long as possible, he'd give up on her and she could finally get away. Part of her wondered why he'd even come this far, because most people wouldn't have even followed her in the first place. Maybe he really was just afraid of what would happen if he didn't listen to Stella, she figured, but somewhere she knew that he was only (half) joking when he'd said that. Still, she decided that his initial reason for following her wasn't important and what was important was that any second now he'd inevitably leave her side.

But ten seconds later, and he was still there.

Thirty more seconds passed, and his steps were still matched with hers.

A few seconds after that, she realized that he wasn't intent on leaving, and she sighed dejectedly.

"I'm sorry that I always injure you and your brothers," she said, realizing that she at least owed him an explanation for her behavior. "And I'm sorry that I always forget about your personal space or whatever," she added, thinking back to a few minutes before when she'd stepped so close to him and he'd snapped at her.

"You don't injure me," he stated simply before adding, "that much anymore. I mean, you just missed me with that golf club earlier when I walked up to you and Stella, but I dodged it," he pointed to the driver sticking out of her bag.

Macy only smiled in response, and a few seconds of a (not totally) uncomfortable silence passed before she realized that he'd said "me". When she apologized, she'd addressed him and his brothers, but when he responded he didn't say, "You don't injure us." He said, "You don't injure _me_." And for some reason, her heart began to dance. It made her unbelievably happy to know that he didn't talk to her like he Nick of Jonas, the boy band she'd been obsessed with for years, and that he didn't talk to her like she was Macy Misa, the boy band's number one fan.

He talked to her as Nick, and treated her like Macy.

"All of them," she said suddenly, softly in a daze.

"What?" he asked in his normal tone, pulling her gently out of her thoughts.

"Oh," she jumped, realizing that she'd probably just confused him due to her lack of self control - she accidentally spoke her thoughts aloud too much, she realized. "It was n-nothing," she added, shaking her head.

"You sure about that?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"Well, you asked me what my favorite sport was," she tried to explain, her voice coming out barely above a whisper. She embarrassedly cleared her through and said louder, "My favorite is all of them."

"Why?" he asked, and it made her heart do another flip in her chest because somewhere she knew that he hadn't just asked for the sake of conversation, but because he genuinely wanted to know. While her heart remained pounding, she was faced with the seemingly impossible task of not only rationalizing why all sports were her favorite, but also figuring out a way to describe it to Nick of Jonas, who was staring at her expectantly, waiting.

_Okay Misa, just don't stutter. Whatever you do, do not stutter and furthermore embarrass yourself in front of Nick of Jonas._

"Well," she gulped. "It's like, people know who I am but," she could hear her voice starting to shake, so she stopped and took a small breath, "they never really notice me. When I play sports it's like," she paused to take another shaky breath, "it's the only place where _I _can be the center of attention. I can be the one that people notice," she shrugged, trying her best to explain herself but feeling like she was coming up short. She looked over at him momentarily, the blood rushing to her cheeks when she realized his gaze was locked on her thoughtfully. "I don't think I'm a star or anything like that," she corrected quickly, suddenly realizing how shallow she could have possibly sounded. "I mean, I don't only play for the attention," she added. For a moment the realization that she was talking to Nick of Jonas - or, even just Nick - about a personal part of who she was flashed across her mind and she felt her knees give in a little, but she somehow managed to continue. "I guess it's just that when I play a sport, no matter what sport it is, there's this feeling I get that I'm just-"

"On top of the world?" he finished for her, and she turned to him in surprise.

"I get the same feeling when I'm on stage," he explained simply, and she nodded in understanding before looking away. Other than that he didn't say anything in response, only sort of nodded slowly as if he was still processing something. She accepted this as a response because it was _something _and a _something _from Nick Lucas was just that - it was something.

"So, Ms. Snark didn't actually call your coaches and get you suspended from the teams because you were late the other day?" he brought up, already knowing the answer.

"Well, when I walked into class she told me that she was going to but," she paused, her nose crinkling as she thought back to that day, "the next day she acted like it never even happened."

"Weird," Nick commented, suppressing a smile but feeling relieved that he calling Ms. Snark to tell her that it was his fault that Macy was late had worked, and that Macy didn't even seem to have the slightest inkling that he was the reason Ms. Snark had forgotten all about it.

"We're here," Macy said suddenly, pointing to the double doors of the entrance of the sports department. "You really don't have to wait for me," she turned to face him, but her eyes remained on the floor. "I don't want to make you and Kevin late to the meeting."

"Just don't take five hours," he joked, his feet remaining planted in their place. Her cheeks turned a light crimson and she started walking toward the entrance.

"I'll be right back, then," she smiled cheekily over her shoulder before jogging through the doors. He couldn't help but smile at the way she still looked graceful as she jogged, her feet moving quickly yet softly like a gazelle. It wasn't until the doors had closed behind her that he realized he was actually waiting outside for a girl. He _never _waited for a girl. He always thought that girls who make a guy wait for them weren't worth it, because they were probably just testing the guy to see if he actually _would _wait and if they were testing him then that probably meant a whole lot of stupid games were in the near future. If any other girl - like, say Penny - had asked him to wait while she changed her clothes, he probably wouldn't have waited for her, even while he was infatuated with her.

But Macy? She was different. He didn't know why she was - she just _was_.

"Nick of," he heard her squeal suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts. "Nick! We only have one minute until we have to meet Stella!"

"Don't worry," he reassured, taking note of the archery equipment she'd thrown over her shoulder. "I know exactly where he is," he explained, and he didn't take her hand but he did tap his fingertip against the back of it as a gesture for her to follow him. She pretended not to notice the way the veins underneath the skin he'd grazed went cold after he'd returned his hand to his side, the way the nerves went on a frenzy.

The next thing she knew they were at the atrium and Nick had opened the door, leaning closer to her.

"It's like his place," he whispered as he gestured to Kevin, who was sitting on the bench inside with his eyes glued to the grass. "He's convinced that the school actually lets bunnies roam free in there or something."

"Oh," she laughed in response, and it didn't take more than a half of a second for Nick to realize that it was her first genuine laugh. Sure, there had been giggles and hardy laughs whenever Joe did something stupid, but they weren't real laughs. He knew that she only laughed then because she felt she had to and she would do just about anything to impress them. But this laugh, it wasn't for show. It was real, and he liked it.

And for some reason, he smiled.

"Kevin of Jonas," she called, not noticing his smile. When he turned to face her, her mouth opened to continue but she could form no words after their eyes connected. It was all she had in her not to faint.

"Stella's holding an emergency Jonas meeting in less than a minute," Nick explained for her, and Kevin shot up off the bench quickly. He pushed through Nick and Macy, who followed after him in a mild run. They rounded a few corners and got to the front steps just as Stella and Joe were arriving.

"Phew," Macy said quietly, more to herself than to anyone. Nick looked over at her and she gave him a sheepish smile. His arm brushed against hers and he joined Kevin, who'd already sat down on the stairs and was awaiting the beginning of the meeting. Stella looked on for a moment, shifting her gaze between Macy and Nick before repeating for a second time, "Three, two, one," and turning around abruptly.

When Stella had finished giving her perspective of the boys' predicament, she called the meeting to an end and told Macy to follow her. After saying some silly remark about pizza over her shoulder (because sometimes she still couldn't suppress her need to impress them) Macy joined in step with her best friend.

"So Macy," Stella began knowingly, "do you have a favorite Jonas?"

"Are you joking?" Macy deadpanned.

"No," Stella shook her head innocently.

"I could never pick a favorite!" Macy exclaimed, appalled at the question.

"Well, who have you spent the most alone time with?" she asked, a knowing smile adorning her features.

"Nick," she admitted in a mumble, her hand covering her mouth to muffle the name.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Stella leaned closer, cupping her hand over ear.

"Ugh," Macy rolled her eyes (somewhat) jokingly and crossed her arms across her chest. Stella was well aware that Macy wouldn't respond to anymore questions she would ask, and only smiled calculatingly at her best friend.

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**So, thoughts? What did you like? What didn't you like? Feedback = better story. :)**


	4. Keeping It Real

**So, so, so sorry for the long wait! Softball started up a couple of weeks ago so I have two hour practices each day, games, meetings.. but I won't bore you with excuses and I'll just let you get to reading it!**

**This one takes place in episode four, Keeping It Real. Originally I thought that they ended the episode with Macy being passed out, but I rewatched the ending earlier and realized that she's actually awake and helping to pass out potato salad. I'd already finished this chapter and really didn't want to start all over because I really love how it turned out, so I guess we can all just pretend she was still passed out. ;)**

**I don't mean to sound like a broken record, either, but reviews = better story. If there's something you really like or something you really don't like, please let me know so I can consider your thoughts when I start writing the next chapter! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

If Macy were awake to realize that two thirds of Jonas had not only carried - as in actually _touched_, _lifted_, and _held_ - her outside, but also ran out to save her (after they'd forgotten her, of course) she would probably just faint all over again, especially according to Stella. Granted if she was in control over herself and her unpredictably scattered emotions when there were one or more Jonas' in the room, she wouldn't allow herself to faint because, to put it simply, it was always just so _embarrassing_. Her cheeks would burn a deep shade of crimson each time she awoke with a start, having no memories of how she got to wherever she was and whatever unusual position she was in - more than likely, sprawled across the hallway floors of Horace Mantis Academy - only to have Stella inform her, "You fainted because _insert Jonas' name here _showed up," or, "You passed out after I mentioned those pants that _insert Jonas' name here _wore at the concert last night."

If she was in control, she would not faint - it's that simple.

Unfortunately for her, whenever she would catch a glimpse of Joe's goofy grin, or Kevin's excited eyes, or Nick's intense ones she would just completely turn back to goop all over again and, in most cases, end up passed out on the ground.

Unfortunately for Kevin, Joe, and Nick that's precisely what happened when she woke up in the middle of a Lucas family group hug and later leaving them, after successfully managing to get all of their fans to leave with their mom's complimentary potato salad, with a passed out Macy laid out across the ground of her mother's thrift store.

"Uh, guys?" Kevin addressed the others as they begun packing up to leave, his brow furrowed. "What exactly do we do with her?"

"Well it _is _her mother's store," Joe shrugged in response.

"You're not seriously implying that we just leave her here," Stella suddenly chimed in to scold Joe, something he was quite used to by that point, and when she only got another shrug of the shoulders from him in response, she punched him _hard _in the middle of his bicep.

"Stella, when will you ever learn that there's just too much muscle there for me to feel your pathetic little punches?" Joe crossed his arms over his chest cockily before adding under his breath, "If you can even call them punches…"

"_Pathetic _punches?" Stella repeated with raised eyebrows that suddenly furrowed into an intense glare directed at him. "I'll show you pathetic," she said through gritted teeth as she raised her arm and curled her fingers into a clenched fist before suddenly being cut off by a voice.

"Guys, we get it: your banter is adorable," Nick said, causing Stella to hesitantly pull her arm back to her side and a shade of light scarlet color to coat Joe's cheeks.

"Anyways," Kevin shot a look toward Joe and Stella before repeating, "what do we do with her?"

"I don't see what the problem is with just leaving her here," Joe repeated with a shrug, earning three hard glares from the rest of the group. "Alright, then, what's Plan B?"

"Well," Stella began, "we should probably take her home."

"Right," Kevin agreed instantly, but after looking back down at an unconscious Macy he suddenly realized that it wasn't like he could just say, 'Come on, Macy, walk to our car with us,' because, you know, she was passed out and all. Looking around, he noticed Joe and Stella wearing similar thoughtful expressions as their gazes shifted between Macy and the door that led to the parking lot.

Swiftly, without warning nor explanation, Nick had knelt to the ground and was beginning to lean closer to her.

"Don't worry guys," he said, "thanks for all of your insightful contributions, but I think I've got it."

"What are you doing?" Joe asked with a creased brow.

"I'm checking her pockets for spare change," Nick bit back sarcastically, "what does it look like I'm doing?"

Joe, nor Kevin and Stella, could manage to say anything in response and settled into an undisturbed silence to simply watch him as he slid one hand underneath her knees and the other around her back. After making sure that he had a secure grip on her in both positions (because he reminded himself that if he were to drop her and she happened to injure her ankle or something, he'd _really _be to blame for her loss of her sports this time) he shifted his weight from his knees back to his feet. As he began to rise and her head lifted off the floor, it instantly rolled to lean against his chest and the top of her head rested just beneath his chin as her arms remained motionlessly hanging at her sides.

"Do you want some help?" Kevin offered after taking note of the way his arms shook subtly at the sudden deadweight he was holding.

"It's fine," Nick replied, starting to make his way toward the exit but stopping once he reached it. The others stayed back in their same positions, anticipating his next move but finding that he was frozen in place as well. "Can someone get the door, please?"

"Oh!" everyone responded simultaneously, breaking their still positions and running toward the door. Stella arrived before the others and after the door was opened and she'd stepped aside, Nick was able to take his first step outside. Once in the parking lot, he was instantly met with a harsh wind that whipped his long curls across his lashes and sent Macy's own hair flying in every which direction. The cold breeze carried the vanilla scent of her curled auburn hair directly to the tip of Nick's nose, and as he took in a breath, the aroma danced across his senses.

Of course, it was completely accidental - because there was certainly no part of him that was curious about her scent or anything.

Realizing once more that there was a task at hand, he immediately began scanning the parking lot to find his parents' car. He'd always been that way - task oriented, that is. If an album was in the works (and sometimes, even if there wasn't) songs could be written by him practically by the dozens until the album was complete and he could check the task off of his internal to-do list. Granted there were always distractions, like Frankie loudly banging his drums in the other room or Macy's vanilla-scented hair, but focus was his repertoire and he always somehow managed to pass all obstacles.

Once he spotted his mother's '92 Sudan in the corner of the lot, he'd begun making his way toward it and with each step he took the image of his father standing by the trunk became more clear. Busy transferring jars and plastic cups of what was left of Mrs. Lucas' potato salad out from the bags they'd been carried in and into the back of the car, he didn't notice his son, nor the girl his son was carrying, until he'd already reached the backdoor of the car.

"Whoa!" Mr. Lucas jumped back in surprise at the sight before him, "Well, hi Nick and - uh," he paused briefly after realizing that he'd never learned the girl's name. He bent down slightly to take a look at her face, seeing that her eyes were still closed and her mouth was still agape, identical to how she'd looked earlier - sprawled across the floor in the middle of the Lucas family's group hug, and added quietly, "passed out girl."

"Her name's Macy," Nick informed him whilst trying to situate himself and Macy in a way that would allow his hand to reach around and grab the handle of the car door. Clearly struggling, Mr. Lucas stepped forward and opened the door for him, continuing to watch with an unconcealed curiosity and mild amusement as Nick gently lifted Macy and, after a momentary struggle, successfully placed her atop the leather backseat. Once he was sure that she was balanced and all of her weight was on the seat, he let go of her completely and started pulling away, but just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief her entire upper body had begun falling sideways and, if she continued falling, would result in a painful crash of her head against the doorframe of the car. Instantly realizing what was bound to happen, Nick jumped back to her side in an instant and her head instead landed on his shoulder.

"Good catch," Mr. Lucas commented under his breath, tearing his eyes away from the sight and returning to the bags of potato salad. Nick took a few moments to scan the car for different options of what he could possibly do next, but after minutes of thought it seemed that there was only one possibility.

Making sure that her head wouldn't slip off of his shoulder, Nick reached for Macy's right arm and gripped her wrist before gingerly lifting it over and around his neck. After wrapping his arm around her side again to support her weight, he simultaneously pushed her further into the car and took a step inside himself, sitting in the seat that she'd been resting upon not a minute before once she was situated again. With her head still on his shoulder, he returned her arm to her side and removed his hand from her waist.

And then, all was quiet.

He couldn't say that the stillness spread throughout the enclosed space wasn't calming in it's own way, because it was. And he couldn't say that the echoing sound of Macy's mingled breathing didn't provide a soothing sort of notion within him, because it did. What he could say, what he could admit to himself, was that after all was said and done that day, that he was glad that he was sitting in the car and he was glad that Macy was next to him instead of sprawled across the floor, alone, as Joe had originally suggested.

It was rather peaceful, he had to admit - serene in an almost perfect way.

But just as quickly as it had come, the passive silence was suddenly disrupted by the sounds of Joe, Kevin, Stella, and Frankie beginning to board the car. Frankie immediately hopped into the far backseat, oblivious to the fact that Macy was resting on Nick's shoulder a mere foot away from him, but he was the only one who hadn't taken notice of the sight.

"Her head just landed there," Nick remarked before anyone of them could speak a word of it.

"Of course it did," Joe replied with a heavy sarcasm dripping clearly in his voice, slipping into back seat with Frankie as Kevin jumped in next to him and Stella took the seat next to Macy. A thick and almost palpable silence formed between them, this one being much less calming and somewhat (_completely_) uncomfortable.

Raucous soon filled the space again when their parents joined them. Mr. Lucas hopped behind the steering wheel as Mrs. Lucas took the passenger seat, her eyes immediately finding Nick's in the rearview mirror. A small and almost unnoticeable smile spread across her lips as her eyes flickered between Macy and her son, wanting to comment but knowing that she shouldn't.

"Everyone ready to go?" Mr. Lucas broke the silence. Everyone responded with quiet yeses and mumbled yeas, except for Frankie's Danny Zuko inspired, 'You know how it is,' and Mr. Lucas nodded in approval before his gaze shifted questioningly to Macy.

"She's not going to answer you, if that's what you're thinking," Nick said, earning an appreciative laugh from his father.

"I wasn't expecting her to," he replied, "but, what do we do with her?"

"That certainly is the question of the night, isn't it?" Joe commented from the backseat, earning a hard glower from Stella after she whipped around to face him. "And that's been a recurring theme, too," he added quizzically as he took note of the icy glare she was sending his way.

"Don't make me come back there and hurt you," she threatened through gritted teeth.

"I'm _so _sorry," he feigned fear with wide eyes.

"I choose to ignore that," Stella turned back around her crossed her arms over her chest. Joe cowered back in faux fear and shot a rather insulting look her way once she'd turned around completely and he was sure that he was out of her sight, but immediately after he did it, she said simply, "I saw that," and then he was _seriously _afraid for his life.

"Anyway…" Mr. Lucas trailed off, his gaze shifting back to Nick.

"Can we just take her home?" he asked, the annoyance in his voice evident to everyone including Frankie.

"Who burst your bubble, bro?" Frankie asked in a singsong voice, tapping him on the shoulder.

"She lives on Edison Road, by the old high school," Stella informed Mr. Lucas suddenly, interrupting Nick before he could say anything in response that could possibly hurt the poor kid's feelings. When Nick was annoyed there was no telling what he would say - something she'd leaned long ago and would have rather not had the experience repeated. Mr. Lucas nodded in understanding and made a silent agreement to take Macy home, shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

The first few minutes of the ride were rather silent, except for Frankie and Kevin's banter in the backseat (something about Batman and a two-horned unicorn) and the quiet conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Lucas in the front of the car. Joe was looking out the window as the sun continued setting in the sky, making the once blue color of it into a hazy mix between orange and purple. Stella too looked out the window for the majority of the time, but every few moments she would glance Nick and Macy's way and though she thought that Nick didn't notice it, he did - he just didn't say anything about it because frankly, he didn't really feel like he should have to say anything, and he was busy reflecting on the day.

Overall, it was a _really _long day. He'd woken up in the morning feeling rejuvenated and ready to start the day, but somewhere between taking out the garbage (how many fans were outside again - dozens? Hundreds? It had felt like so long ago that he could hardly even remember) and packing up the car with clothes to drop off at a thrift store, everything had become a blur. Few instances stood out to him - he vaguely remembered trying on a Santa Claus outfit, and he remembered seeing Macy faint - for the first time that day - in front of Kevin as she was asking him some questions for her fan site. He could somewhat picture Joe giving a pointless speech about taking out the garbage, and then he and Stella doing that weird handshake thing they'd made up in fourth grade - but other than that, pretty much nothing.

_Pretty much._

The two things he could still see and feel clearly were rushing back inside the store after the mob of fans outside realized that the three guys standing next to them weren't actually doctors paged with a dire emergency and had begun chasing them, and the feeling of his stomach dropping once he realized that they'd left a defenseless, passed out Macy in the chaos outside. He could hear himself screaming her name, rushing to the door to get her but finding that Joe and Kevin were already rescuing her. His heart was pounding, his head thinking the worst as the few seconds he waited for their return seemed to stretch into years until they finally returned with her and he could breathe a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long, though, and was soon replaced with guilt - because after all, it was his idea to bring her out there.

"_We just need one more thing to really sell it," he'd said before he and Joe headed over to pick her up and carry her outside._

He thought of how guilty he'd felt when he realized that he could've put her sports at risk, but what if she'd been hurt? He knew for a fact that the top priority of Jonas fans when Jonas was in the vicinity wasn't an unconscious girl on the ground - it was meeting Jonas. If one of them had accidentally stepped on her while in a frenzied rush to get to them, how guilty would he have felt? He could only imagine it as being a thousand times worse than the feeling of only putting her sports at risk, because if she'd somehow gotten hurt in the mob then not only would her sports be at risk then too but, even worse than that, _she'd be hurt._

And he'd be the only one to blame.

Suddenly the absence of warmth on his shoulder pulled him away from his memories and he turned to see what had happened, immediately being met with the sight of a nearly hyperventilating Macy as she took in her surroundings.

"Calm down, Mace," Stella quickly coached, reaching an arm across her back to provide a familiar comfort that would hopefully relax her. "We're just taking you home, okay?"

"Oh, uh, okay," she replied, her voice shaking as she took one more look around the car. After fixing the wrinkles that had formed in her 'Jonas Number One Super Fan' t-shirt, she turned to her left and noticed that similar wrinkles covered the cloth wrapped around Nick's shoulder. Her eyes flickered between his shoulder and his face as realization slowly became clear in her head. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed loudly. "I didn't mean to - I'm sorry for, uh, you know," she started gesturing to his shoulder, "the whole, um," she continued struggling and felt her cheeks begin burning.

"I didn't mind," he reassured her, smoothing out the wrinkles on his sleeve as well.

"If I'd been awake, I-"

"Don't worry about it."

"But I really didn't-"

"Macy!" Stella interrupted suddenly before soothingly exhaling, "Relax."

"Okay," Macy exhaled as well, folding her hands across her lap and facing ahead of her. "I'm sorry," she couldn't help but add once more in a whisper, leaning closer to him momentarily so he could hear her before realizing every embarrassing detail of what could possibly happen if she were to brush against him accidentally and instantly pulling her body back. She swore she could hear - well, not a laugh exactly, because really it couldn't even be defined as a snort, let alone a chuckle - but it was _something_ and instantly her heart began to beat quicker. As always, though, she told herself it was her imagination, because Nick Lucas would _never _laugh due to something she'd done because she was _Macy Misa _and he was _Nick Lucas _- it was just that simple.

Ignoring her heartbeat, she took notice of the familiar shapes and figures the car was passing as the looked ahead through the front window. It only took a moment to realize that they were in her neighborhood, a mere block away from her house.

"Oh, Dad of Jonas!" she said suddenly. "Take the next left!"

Mr. Lucas pulled the car to a sudden halt in order to take the left that he'd just about passed onto Edison Road. He eased up on the gas pedal and soon the car began traveling what seemed like centimeters per hour.

"Honey, you can drive a little faster than that," Mrs. Lucas chimed in from the front passenger seat.

"I don't want to pass her house," he whispered back.

"Uh, it's the last house on the left," Macy offered from the backseat.

"Oh, well, okay," Mr. Lucas stammered, applying more pressure to the gas until they'd passed what must have been fifteen houses before reaching an intersection. As the car came to a stop, those in the car that were unfamiliar with the area (those of whom being the Lucas family) shifted their gazes to the left to be met with the sight of a charming little house with blue shudders and a white picket fence wrapped around the picturesque front yard. Quaint would be a good word to describe it - maintaining a size not too small, but large enough to house a family comfortably.

Macy began squirming at the sudden silence that had formed as everyone else observed her house, and after a minute or so she finally cleared her throat and said, "I can probably leave now."

"Right," Mr. Lucas agreed from the front seat, reaching over to unlock the doors so she could get out. Upon hearing the click of the doors unlocking, Macy turned to her left to leave before realizing that Nick was in between herself and the door as the skin of her knee brushed across his.

"Sorry!" she squeaked, her cheeks becoming red.

"It's okay," he murmured, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door before stepping outside and waiting for her to do the same. After a few moments of waiting, he poked his head back in the car and asked, "You coming?"

"Yeah, sorry," she responded quietly, trying to get her legs to move but finding the task much more difficult than anticipated. After all, she had just fainted _twice _in the past few hours.

"Here," Nick extended his hand toward her, her struggle to get out becoming evident. Slowly (and I mean ever so slowly) and after much internal debate on whether to actually grab his hand and let him lead her outside or not grab his hand and embarrass herself profusely for about the six hundredth time, she finally extended her hand as well and wrapped her fingers around his. His hand was rather cold, she noted, but it was also soft in the most perfect way, and once he'd successfully guided her out of the car and released her hand, his fingers left a burning sort of trace where they'd lingered on hers.

"Thank you," she said, her voice coming out more shakily than she would have hoped.

Nick, noticing the way her voice faltered when she spoke, asked curiously, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she tried to assure him, and she took a step toward the pathway that led to the door only to have her knees give out suddenly and feel the familiar notion of gravity pulling her quickly to the ground. Just as she began anticipating the fall, a pair of arms wrapped suddenly around her and her body came to a halt before hitting the gravel of the sidewalk. Before she had time to attempt and pull herself back up, she was already being lifted by the same person who'd caught her and was soon enough face to face with a smirking Nick Lucas.

"You positive about that?" he asked, and had it not been for the erratic pounding of her heart in her chest she probably would have been able to pick up on the fact that he was amused. More so, had she actually noticed that his lips were curved into a smirk, she probably would just faint for a third time so maybe it's for the better that she didn't notice.

"Thanks," she said breathily, her body remaining completely rigid in his arms.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?"

"Oh no, you've already done enough!" she declined quickly. "I really don't want to impose-"

"Macy," his eyes narrowed, "do you realize the predicament you're in right now? You've fainted twice in a four hour span of time and if I let you go right now, you'd fall without question."

"Okay," she agreed quickly, not bothering to fight it because she knew he had a valid point and she wouldn't even dare try fighting a Jonas anyway.

And before she knew it, in one swift motion, he'd wrapped his arm around her waist tightly and begun leading her down her walkway to her front door. All the while, his hand gripped her side securely as her head began spinning at the realization that her dreams, in that moment, were literally coming true - because she couldn't even begin to explain how many times she'd dreamt of a Jonas walking her to her doorstep - though in her dreams it was more than likely after a first date of sorts and the promise of a searing kiss on the lips was hanging in the air of the distant future. She knew that the circumstances weren't ideal and they weren't exactly (not even close to) how she'd dreamt them, and a kiss certainly would not end this evening, but nevertheless _Nick Lucas _was actually walking her to her door with his arm around her and at that point it was all her mind had the ability to focus on.

Somehow, and she wasn't exactly sure how because she felt like she'd been zapped into some hazy dream world, they'd reached their destination and had faced each other once they were stopped in front of the door. His hand remained securely resting on the small of her back for a moment, as if she was a fragile porcelain doll that would tip over in the wind and break once he released her. Gently, he pulled his hand away and it grazed across the skin of her arm as he pulled it back to his side.

Inside, she was squealing.

"You good?" he asked, holding up a hand in front of him just in case her knees decided to give out again - and while his eyes had locked with hers, a subtle hint of genuine concern written in the way they never once blinked, she honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did.

"Yeah, I'm good," she responded despite her thoughts, a thick silence soon forming between them after the words were spoken. While neither of them were quite sure what to do next (Macy for obvious reasons, and Nick because he was partly worried she'd faint again and partly unnerved for reasons unknown even to him) the honk of the Lucas' van caused both their heads to whip toward the direction of the source of the sound and were immediately met with six pairs of glaring eyes. Macy's eyebrows furrowed at the sight of Stella, three fourths of the Lucas brothers, Dad of Jonas, and Mom of Jonas' eyes glued on her. She turned back to Nick, who was wearing a glare that matched if not surpassed the intensity of all of theirs' combined. She couldn't help but momentarily admire his profile, and the way he could express his thoughts completely with a simple look (or, in this case, _glare_) before ducking her head back down and smiling sheepishly.

"Looks like I should be going," Nick turned back to her, his eyebrows still furrowed in the remnants of his glare.

"Yeah," Macy agreed quietly, not quite sure what else to say before suddenly adding, "well, thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied simply, nodding his head in her direction and pursing his lips before the uncomfortable silence formed between them again. Awkwardly, Macy began turning toward the door and reaching for the doorknob, praying to any and every god in heaven that she wouldn't lose her balance or anything again, before suddenly the sound of Nick's voice calling her name stopped her.

"Yes?" she responded shakily, turning back to face him just as he began digging for something in his pocket. As her curiosity grew, he finally found what he'd been looking for and pulled the small plastic cup - with a lid, of course - out of his pocket. He extended his arm toward her with an open hand, the cup resting on his palm and a confused Macy's eyes flickering between the cup and his face.

"Complimentary potato salad," he stated simply, and for some unknown reason Macy couldn't help but smile a genuine smile. Though she was still confused (because honestly, she'd dreamt about standing on her doorstep with Nick Lucas but there had never been any potato salad involved - even in her _wildest _dreams) she snatched the cup from his hand and held it gently in both of hers.

"I'll see you later, Macy," Nick said, his demeanor remaining deadpan but his voice coming out softly, and their eyes met momentarily before he hopped off the doorstep and down the pathway while Macy remained frozen in her place.

And he ignored the stares, glares, and grimaces once he got back in the car just as she ignored the fact that she was still smiling when they (_he)_ drove off.

* * *

**Thoughts?**

**Also, in an unrelated note, I made a YouTube account the other day completely dedicated to uploading Nick/Macy scenes from JONAS. So, if you feel like watching any or all Nacy related scenes, you can check that out here - http:// www. youtube .com /user/ NickLovesMacy**

***Remove spaces!**


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